CVE-2026-70494: CVE-2026-70494: Broken Access Control in Open WebUI Folder Deletion Endpoint

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CVE-2026-70494: Broken Access Control in Open WebUI Folder Deletion Endpoint

Vulnerability ID: CVE-2026-70494
CVSS Score: 8.1
Published: 2026-08-04

A critical broken access control vulnerability in Open WebUI (v0.10.0 to v0.11.0) allows authenticated write-collaborators to delete shared subfolders they do not own. Because deletion triggers a backend cascade using the folder owner's identity, this results in unauthorized permanent deletion of the owner's nested chats, messages, and files.

TL;DR

Authenticated collaborators with write access to a shared folder can delete subfolders owned by others, triggering a cascading deletion of the folder owner's private chat history.

⚠️ Exploit Status: POC

Technical Details

CWE ID: CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) / CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization)
Attack Vector: Network (Remote)
CVSS v3.1 Score: 8.1 (High)
EPSS Score: Not Available
Impact: Data Destruction / Loss of Chat History
Exploit Status: POC-Conceptual
CISA KEV Status: Not Listed

Affected Systems

Open WebUI self-hosted AI platform
Open WebUI: >= v0.10.0, < v0.11.0 (Fixed in: v0.11.0)

Code Analysis

Commit: 915ef7d

Fix folder deletion access control by requiring owner or administrator role for all folders.

@@ -626,26 +626,18 @@ async def delete_folder_by_id(
     folder = await Folders.get_folder_by_id_and_user_id(id, user.id, db=db)

     if not folder:
-        # Check if it's a shared subfolder with write access
+        # Deletion cascades into the owner's data, so only the owner or an admin may delete
         folder = await Folders.get_folder_by_id(id, db=db)
-        if folder and folder.parent_id:
-            if user.role != 'admin' and not await _has_folder_access(user.id, folder, 'write', db):
-                raise HTTPException(
-                    status_code=status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN,
-                    detail=ERROR_MESSAGES.ACCESS_PROHIBITED,
-                )
-        elif folder and not folder.parent_id:
-            # Root shared folders can only be deleted by owner/admin
-            if user.role != 'admin':
-                raise HTTPException(
-                    status_code=status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN,
-                    detail=ERROR_MESSAGES.ACCESS_PROHIBITED,
-                )
-        else:
+        if not folder:
             raise HTTPException(
                 status_code=status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND,
                 detail=ERROR_MESSAGES.NOT_FOUND,
             )
+        if user.role != 'admin':
+            raise HTTPException(
+                status_code=status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN,
+                detail=ERROR_MESSAGES.ACCESS_PROHIBITED,
+            )

     folder_owner_id = folder.user_id

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade Open WebUI to version v0.11.0 or later.
Manually patch backend/open_webui/routers/folders.py to restrict subfolder deletion to owners and administrators.

Remediation Steps:

Pull the latest Docker image or release package for Open WebUI v0.11.0.
Restart the application container.
Verify that folder deletion requests from non-owners without admin privileges return a 403 Forbidden status code.

References

Read the full report for CVE-2026-70494 on our website for more details including interactive diagrams and full exploit analysis.

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